U.S. industrial demand is accelerating, with leasing activity up sharply, manufacturing investment driving record demand and occupiers increasingly shifting back toward primary markets amid fuel, tariff and occupancy-cost considerations, according to Newmark in its Q2 2026 U.S. Industrial Market Report.
Leasing activity is booming, driven by third-party logistics (3PL), advanced manufacturing and data center-related activity. Year-to-date volume was up 24 percent year-over-year, led by gains in a wide breadth of markets, with particularly compelling growth now visible in coastal markets that have gone through a protracted recalibration period, like Los Angeles.
Fuel and tariff volatility in second quarter 2026 is repricing the trade-off between primary and secondary markets. In contrast to last year, occupiers are shifting back to primary markets to save on fuel a
